Inside Fujitsu's new tier-3 green data centre

From a physical perspective, the company applied a waterproof ‘membrane’ to the top floor of data hall one and converted the old vacuum air system on the same floor to a drainage system. Both measures were taken to cover Fujitsu against the potential for water leakage when running a multi-storey data centre environment.

“In a multi-level tenancy the first thing customers think of is what if you get water damage coming through the roof,” said Gunton.

Fujitsu used its own sustainability practice to design and engineer the new centre. It also purchased a range of state-of-the-art industrial infrastructure for efficient power management, cooling and metering.

The centre uses new hybrid, air-cooled, closed water loop chiller technology developed by Australian manufacturer, Powerpax. The chillers use oil-free, magnetic compressors to achieve additional energy efficiency.

Muller dry-con pads have also been fixed to the outside of each hybrid chiller unit to achieve better coefficient performance on hot days.

“In days of high temperatures, perhaps 35 degrees Celsius or more, the dry-con pads sprinkle moist vapour around the chillers themselves to reduce the temperature of the air coming in,” said Gunton.

“The chillers themselves also run a closed water loop so we don’t have to continually top them up with water. This saves around 80 percent of the water we would typically need for the data centre.”

Fujitsu is also using Stulz computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units inside the data halls.

“They were the only brand on the market that had variable speed fan control in the device – most are either belt-driven or run at a static, fixed speed,” explained Gunton.

Both systems were purchased in part to help Fujitsu use less power while the centre ramps up to full capacity.

“The floor load is typically quite low at the start but grows over time,” Gunton told iTnews.

“While we’re running at low loads, we want to generate as much efficiency as possible.”

The data centre uses a new motion-controlled Cbus lighting system, and everything is controlled through a central Vykon building management system package.

It also adheres to ASIO-4 level security ‘including not only physical deterrents but also the processes’, said Gunton.

Additionally, the centre will soon upgrade its two MGE Galaxy 5000 UPS units to the more efficient 9000 series.

“We’ve designed this facility to be modular and upgradeable,” Gunton told iTnews.

“We didn’t want to burden ourselves with excess plant upfront, but to have the capability and capacity to expand as we grow.”

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